ENTERTAINMENT TODAY’S 2007 MOVIE PREVIEW GUIDE

BY JONATHAN W.  HICKMAN, TONY SULLIVAN, STAN FURLEY, AND PETER SOBCZYNSKI

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3:10 TO YUMA
This remake seems like an odd choice for Walk the Line director James Mangold, but if you’re familiar with the original 3:10, perhaps, this genre is where Mangold is most comfortable—see his Identity that could have easily been a Western.  Russell Crowe takes on the role of Ben Wade previously played perfectly by the late, great Glenn Ford back in 1957.  Wade is an outlaw that’s held by rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) who hopes of proving himself by putting Wade on the 3:10 train to prison.  (October 12)

12:08 EAST OF BUCHAREST
Romanian comedy that takes place 16 years after the revolution from Communism has won awards including the Golden Camera at Cannes last year.  In the days before Christmas, three people from different walks of life who attempt to determine whether their country’s revolution started in their city.  Apparently, this is funny.  (June 7)

30 DAYS OF NIGHT
Director David Slade follows up his indie hit thriller, Hard Candy, with a vampire pic that aims for a wider audience spectrum and boasts a much bigger budget.  Story sounds like something only John Carpenter could pull off—see Assault on Precinct 13.  In 30 Days, Josh Hartnett and Melissa George find themselves besieged by a blood-thirsty gang of vampires when their Alaskan town is plunged into darkness for a month.  (October 19)

300
Sin City writer/director Frank Miller doesn’t share director’s credit on this adaptation of his graphic novel.  No, this time he permits Zack Snyder to solely direct and try to capture Miller’s take on of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.  Snyder’s set a high bar by surprising everyone with his 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.  Expect lots of eye-popping effects with this live action and computer-generated production.  (March 9)

1408
Eric Lurio has seen this and claims it’s pretty good.  Based on a Stephen King story, 1408 is a room in a NYC hotel that’s know for supernatural occurrences.  And supernatural writer Mike Enslin (John Cusack) checks into the room to debunk the rumors of the dangers therein.  Of course, weird things happen.  (July 13)

28 WEEKS LATER
Fans of the first film, 28 Days Later, will rejoice, a sequel promises to extend the story.  This time the Rage virus that decimated Brittan’s population has run its course and people have been cleared to return.  Of course, it’s too soon and things go horribly wrong.  Danny Boyle is involved but Intacto’s  Juan Carlos Fresnadillo takes over directing duties.  One wonders whether the indigent inspired filmmaking that made the first film so special will be preserved.  (May 11)

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
Okay, this is interesting, Director Julie Taymor (probably best known for Frida) brings us a musical set in the 1960s.  Using the music of the Beatles as a jumping off point and starring Evan Rachel Wood (who’s making good career choices), Across the Universe might be another Moulin Rouge!  My thought is that Taymor’s track record makes the film worth a look.  (September 28)

ADAM’S APPLE
Taken directly from IMDB (everything else is not in English): A neo-nazi sentenced to community service at a church clashes with the blindly devotional priest.  (TBD)

AFTER THE WEDDING
Taken directly from IMDB (everything else not in English): A manager of an orphanage (Mikkelsen) in Denmark is sent to Copenhagen, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.  (TBD)

AIR GUITAR NATION
Here’s a documentary for the everyman.  Who knew that there was a World Air Guitar championship?  Well Air Guitar Nation is our insiders look at that competition and the phenomenon that is air guitar.  (Spring 2007)

ALIEN VS.  PREDATOR: AVP2
The exploitation continues as two series descend deeper into the muck.  If we weren’t assaulted enough by the uninspired pairing the first time, we now get round two as humans are caught in the crossfire as Aliens and Predators due battle.  (December 21)

ALONE WITH HER
Tom Hanks son, Colin, is doing interesting work.  This time, he plays a Peeping Tom, who utilizes tiny cameras to spy on his neighbor.  The question is whether the production can stay within the voyeuristic visual scope that it establishes early on.  (January 17)

THE AMATEURS (title may have been changed to The Moguls) 
Jeff Bridges stars as a small town guy who brings together a group of losers to make an adult film.  This film appears to have been sitting around for a little while.  (TBD)

AN AMERICAN CRIME
Screened at Sundance this year, I found the narrative structure too tedious and even dampening on the emotional impact of the story.  Finely acted and produced, the story involves the true crime story of a woman who keeps a girl locked away in her basement for a period of time.  The ever so talented Ellen Page is the girl and the always-dependable Catherine Keener is the evil woman.  (August 17)

AMAZING GRACE
Michael Apted’s take on the 18th century British politician William Wilberforce  who makes his way through parliament in an effort to end slavery in the empire.  Albert Finney plays a significant role.  (February 23)

AMERICAN GANGSTER
Ridley Scott reteams with Russell Crowe this time tackling drug smuggling in the 1970s.  Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Josh Brolin are also in the cast.  Story has to do with a drug lord in Harlem that smuggles heroin into the country in the coffins of American soldiers returning from Vietnam.  (November 4)

AND WHERE DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER?
Shopgirl and Hilary and Jackie director Anand Tucker tackles Blake Morrison’s memoir about the week’s leading up to his father’s death.  This title is ironically of Harry Potter length, ironically because Tucker is reportedly in talks to direct the Half-Blood Prince due out in 2008.  (TBD)

ANGEL-A
Luc Besson is back in the director’s chair in complete live-action mode (technically, his return was Arthur and the Invisibles).  This film has to do with a beautiful woman helping out a scam-artist.  (TBD)

AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE
My thought is that the advertising for this film will be kept to a minimum.  In case you missed the hoopla, this is the movie version of the television show that shut down Boston recently with guerilla advertising.  (March 23)

ARE WE DONE YET?
Ice Cube teams again with director Steve Carr, the two worked together on Next Friday back in 2000.  This film is about a couple of newlyweds who move to the burbs only to be tormented by a contractor.  (April 6)

THE ASTRONAUT FARMER
This is the Polish brothers (see Northfork and Twin Falls Idaho) foray into family entertainment.  Certainly, this is their most accessible film to date, part quirky Polish and part Disney.  The story is about a rancher (Billy Bob Thornton) who builds a rocket in his barn and then threatens to use it to send him to outer space.  (February 23)

ATONEMENT
Interesting casting here, with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy (the doctor in Last King of Scotland) headlining.  Set in 1935, the story here has to do a thirteen-year-old girl bringing allegations of a terrible crime against McAvoy’s character.  But the girl’s older sister (Knightley) disputes her sister’s claims.  Based on a novel by Ian McEwan.  (August 31)

AVENUE MONTAIGNE
A waitress, an actress, a piano prodigy, and an art collector meet at a café and discuss their various life lessons and regrets as relating to the presence of art in their lives.  (TBD)

AWAY FROM HER
Sarah Polley takes to the director’s chair with this film about a woman who is institutionalized because of the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.  Julie Christie stars.  (TBD)

BALLS OF FURY
This comedy actioner takes place in the world of professional ping pong.  Former champion Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) gets a second chance when he’s recruited by an FBI agent (George Lopez) for a special mission.  Christopher Walken is in the cast.  (April 27)

MR.  BEAN’S HOLIDAY
Mr.  Bean’s back and this time he’s vacationing in the south of France.  Rowan Atkinson takes another turn as his most popular creation, Bean.  (September 28)

BECOMING JANE
Anne Hathaway takes on the role of pre-fame Jane Austen.  This biographical portrait covers Austen’s romance with a young Irishman.  James McAvoy is in the cast.  (August 3)

BEE MOVIE
Jerry Seinfeld stars as a bee who’s graduated from college and has become disillusioned with his career, that of making honey.  But when he discovers that human’s eat honey, he decides to sue.  (November 2)

BEHIND THE MASK: THE RISE OF LESLIE VERNON
Funny mockumentary that adds a new dimension to the slasher genre.  Set in the world where Jason, Freddy, and the like are real, a documentary camera crew interviews and follows a young man who has chosen the dark path to infamy—he’s training to be the next great slasher killer.  (March 16)

BELIEVE IN ME
A baskeTBDll coach moves to Oklahoma intending to coach the boy’s team, but ends up the coach of the girl’s team.  The film follows the coach’s efforts to develop a team and to gain support in a town that has never supported a girl’s team before.  (March 9)

BEOWULF
All-star cast here with Robert Zemeckis back in the director’s seat after a layoff from live-action since 2000’s Cast Away (he last directed The Polar Express in 2004).  This is a new take on the classic story with Ray Winstone as Beowulf and Crispin Glover as the monster Grendel.  Roger Avary has a screenwriting credit.  (November 16)

BEYOND THE GATES
Based on a true story of a Catholic priest (John Hurt) and an English teacher caught in 1994 Rwandan genocide.  Michael Caton-Jones directs.  (March 9)

BLACK BOOK
Director Paul Verhoeven returns with his first feature film since 2000’s Hollow Man.  Black Book is a World War II epic about a Jewish singer who joins the Resistance.  (March 9)

BLACK SNAKE MOAN
Director Craig Brewer follows up his 2005 hit Hustle & Flow with another gritty racially charged picture.  This time he’s got Samuel L.  Jackson playing a man named Lazarus who imprisons a girl named Rae (a very thin Christina Ricci) in his home for her own good.  (February 23)

BLADES OF GLORY
Comedy with inspired casting (Will Ferrell and Jon Heder) set in the world of professional and Olympic ice-skating.  Story deals with the return of two ice-skaters, former rivals, who compete together as a pairs team.  (March 30)

BLIND DATING
Comedy about romance fraught with cultural differences, a young blind man falls in love with an Indian woman.  (March 30)

THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM
Director Paul Greengrass joins Matt Damon for another Jason Bourne spy actioner.  Bourne’s on the run again after a shootout in Moscow.  This is the third in the critically heralded and popular adaptation of the Robert Ludlum novel series.  (August 3)

BOY CULTURE
Through a series of confessions, a male escort describes his relationships with his roommates and one of his clients.  Winner of the LA Outfest Grand Jury Award in 2006.  (March 23)

BRATZ
Animated feature based on the best-selling dolls.  Story follows the exciting and glamorous lives of Cloe, Jade, Sasha, and Yasmin, four teenage girls with a “passion for fashion!”  (TBD)

THE BRAVE ONE
Neil Jordan directs Jodie Foster in a film about a woman who struggling to recover from a brutal attack and setting out to exact revenge.  Cast boasts Lost’s Naveen Andrews and Terrence Howard.  (September 28)

BREACH
Inspired by one of the greatest security breaches in US history.  Young FBI agent Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe) plays a cat and mouse game with his boss, Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper), who is ultimately convicted of selling secrets to Russia.  (February 16)

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA
Based on the Katherine Paterson children’s book, this Walden Media and Disney production aims to capture the same audience that made The Chronicles of Narnia such an enormous hit.  Story follows the adventures of Jesse and Leslie who discover a magical kingdom in the forest.  (February 16)

BROKEN ENGLISH
Comedy/Drama/Romance starring Parker Posey as a NYC thirty-something who is perpetually unlucky at love.  Watch for a hilarious turn by Justin Theroux in a crazy mohawk.  (TBD)

THE BROTHERS SOLOMON
A father’s dying wish to have a grandson causes comic problems for his two sons who have no experience with women.  Saturday Night Live alumni Will Forte and Will Arnett are Dumb & Dumber and a baby.  Bob Odenkirk, he of the unfairly maligned Let’s Go to Prison, directs.  (August 31)

BUG
Ashley Judd and Harry Connick jr.  team up for this claustrophobic tale of creepy crawlies that may or may not be the product of Michael Shannon’s paranoia.  The title is a potential drawback, as this is NOT a remake of the 70s fire-starting cockroach movie.  Horrormeister William “Exorcist” Freidkin directs.
(TBA 2007)

CAN MR. SMITH GET TO WASHINGTON ANYMORE?
Autopsy of a Missouri Democratic primary election, so you thought your country was a true democracy, eh? Scathing documentary look at the US political system.
(TBA 2007)

EL CANTANTE
Autobiographical account of Henry Lavoe, successful 70s Spanish-language singer until drugs wreak havoc with his life.  Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony give their all in this dynamic drama-musical.  (July 27)
 
CLOSE TO HOME
Neama Shendar and Smadar Sayar are two young women in the Israeli Border patrol.  Film examines their initially hostile relationship and daily lives in the flashpoint that is modern day Jerusalem.  Naturalistic and endearing performances from the leads.(February 14)

COLOR ME KUBRICK
The story of a fellow who passed himself off as reclusive director Stanley Kubrick while that worthy was working on his last film, Eyes Wide Shut.  John Malkovich plays the doppelganger.  Quirky comedy that plays as an art house movie version of Borat.  (March 23)

THE COMEBACKS
A failure of a football coach has one last shot at glory with a dodgy roster of new recruits.  Tired formula is trotted out one more time, but I suppose there is a new generation that hasn’t seen Major League or The Bad News Bears.  Directed by Tom Brady of The Hot Chick fame if that helps.  (August 24)

THE CONDEMNED
Testosterone laden action-thriller featuring wrestling star Stone Cold Steve Austin as a prisoner who has to fight for survival on a reality TV show.  WWE meets Battle Royale anyone? Probably not a serious contender for an Oscar.  (April 27)

CUT SLEEVE BOYS
A comic look into the lives of some gay Chinese fellows in London who decide they need to put a little zing into their lifestyles.  Film now has the distinction of being banned in Singapore, and is picking up prizes on the gay and lesbian film circuit.  Ashley Wang and Melvyn Shu star.  (March)

DAN IN REAL LIFE
Steve Carell, the best thing to hit comedy films since Steve Martin, stars as parental advice columnist who falls for a woman while unaware she is his brother’s girlfriend.  Moral complications ensue.  Co-starring the charming Juliette Binoche and directed by About a Boy scribe, Peter Hedges, this should be a sure-fire comedy hit.  (September 21)

THE DARJEELING LIMITED
The tale of three brothers journeying through India following the death of their father.  Film reunites Owen Wilson and director Wes Anderson from The Life Aquatic and most of the director’s movies come to that.  Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman are the other siblings.  Quirky character driven comedy will be just what the doctor ordered.  (TBA)

THE DARK IS RISING
Another venture into film production for Waldenbooks after The Chronicles of Narnia.  This is an adaptation of Susan Cooper’s novel concerning an everyday lad who finds out he is, in fact, an immortal warrior and destined to fight the forces of darkness.  (September 28)

DAY WATCH
Mammoth follow up to Night Watch, the Russian action-vampire movie.  This one follows Anton as he tries to restore the glory of Moscow.  Bigger is definitely better in this ambitious sequel.  Konstantin Khablensky stars again as Anton.  (August)

DEAD SILENCE
Director James Wan takes a break from the Saw series to helm this dark tale of vengeful animated ventriloquist dummies.  Visually sumptuous horror nastiness from a director who knows the power of creepy dolls.  Donnie Wahberg and Amber Valleta star.  (March 23)

DEATH AT A FUNERAL
Gallows humor abounds when the family patriarch expires bringing a blackmailer to his funeral causing problems for the two sons (Matthew Macfadyen and Rupert Graves).  Directed by genre vet and Miss Piggy manipulator extraordinaire, Frank Oz.  (June 29)

DELTA FARCE
What seems like a good idea, sending three gun happy rednecks to Iraq, backfires when they are accidentally dropped into Mexico, but still manage to find an adversary.  Broad comedy in blissfully bad taste gives Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy a chance to do their thing.  (May 11)

DIGGERS
The clam digging workforce of Long Island becomes the unlikely setting for this coming-of-age tale of four friends.  Lauren Ambrose and Maura Tierney star.  Expect bitter-sweetness.  (April)

DISTURBIA
A teen (Shia LaBeouf) under house arrest becomes obsessed that a neighbor (David Morse) is up to evil deeds.  He enlists the help of his friends to seek out the truth.  What starts off like a teen comedy soon turns dark in this interesting cross-breed of The ‘burbs and Rear Window.  Always great to see to see David Morse doing the bad-guy thing.  (April 13)

DYNAMITE WARRIOR (Kon fai bin)
Gonzo martial arts spectacular channeling the ghost of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns.  Set in the 1890’s the plot concerns a rocket savvy warrior righting wrongs against cattle rustlers.  Made in Thailand by the delightfully named Baa Ram Ewe company.  (TBA)

EAGLE VS.  SHARK
Romance among the nerdy as a young lady impresses the local game nerd by beating him at his own game.  The two then set out to right some wrongs.  Popular hit at Sundance, could be this year’s Napoleon Dynamite.  Loren Horsley plays Lily, the Shark, to Jemaine Clement’s Eagle.  Filmed in New Zealand.  (June 1)

EASTERN PROMISES
David Cronenberg who is becoming one of the most interesting directors in the medium brings us another UK based movie after Spider.  This one concerns gangland violence among Eastern European émigrés.  (September 14)

ELEVEN MEN OUT
When an Icelandic soccer player comes out to his team mates he finds himself ostracized and has to make some career changes.  Who’d have thought that the sexual politics of this chilly island could be so warm? (TBA)

ENCHANTED
Ambitious fusion of live-action and animation as an animated princess finds herself flesh in a very real NYC! Good to see Disney taking a chance again.  Includes songs by Hunchback of Notre Dame team Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.  The beguiling Amy Adams stars with Grey’s Anatomy charmer, Patrick Dempsey as her mortal love.  (November 21)

EVAN ALMIGHTY
The hapless Evan Baxter (the increasingly delightful Steve Carell) moves to center stage in this sequel to the Jim Carrey vehicle, Bruce Almighty.  This one has God, in the form of Morgan Freeman, charge Evan with doing the Noah’s ark thing.  The laughs will be here, let’s hope this one can avoid the glutinous sentiment of its predecessor.  (June 22)

EVENING
A dying woman reflects on her past to her two daughters.  Delicious pairings of Meryl Streep and Glenn Close and Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Natasha Richardson would be enough to make this romantic drama worth a look, but then there’s the always superb Toni Collette too.  Based on a novel by Susan Minot.  (June 15)

EXILED (Fong juk)
Tale of Macau and Hong Kong gangsters set as the two colonies are repatriated with mainland China.  Tense action-thriller surely destined for a US remake.  Which might mean this doesn’t see the light of day here.  (June)

THE EX (Fast Track)
Complications ensue when Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) begins working with the wheelchair bound Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman) who may have been the previous love interest of his girlfriend, Sofia (Amanda Peet).  Politically incorrect comedy from music video director, Jesse Peretz.  (March 9)

THE EXTERMINATING ANGELS
A French film director encourages his actresses to lose their inhibitions while filming an erotic scene, with unexpected consequences.  Erotic tension makes this the hottest screen ticket since the halcyon days of Emanuelle.  This won’t play well in the Bible Belt.  (March 28)

THE EYE
Much delayed remake of the Hong Kong horror film, Jian Gui, this concerns the blind recipient of some eye surgery which enables her to see with the bonus of some extra things she really would have preferred not to see.  If the shocks follow the original this should be a creepy hit.  Jessica Alba took over from Renee Zellweger during the delay.  Keep an eye out for it.  (TBA)

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
It looks as though director Tim Story has sorted out the problems that marred the first film, and it looks as if this will be a superb comic book adaptation.  The original cast return including Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and the wonderful Michael Chiklis as grumpy Ben Grimm aka The Thing.  It’s clobberin’ time! (June 15)

FAY GRIM
Comedic espionage thriller follow up to Henry Fool from indie darling Hal Hartley.  Clever and silly by turns.  Mostly for Hartley fans.  Parker Posey, Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows head up an impressive cast including Thomas Jay Ryan back as Henry Fool.  (May)

FIRED!
Annabelle Gurwitch conducts a meditation on the painful subject of getting fired, triggered by her own dismissal by no less than Woody Allen.  Many famous faces such as Tim Allen, Fred Willard and Ben Stein offer their own take on the subject.  (TBA)

FIREHOUSE DOG
A misplaced Hollywood trained pooch winds up adopted by an inept fire department and the son of one of the firefighters in particular.  Broad, Disneyesque comedy that looks to be strictly for the kids.  Bruce Greenwood and Josh Hutcherson head the cast as father and son respectively.  (April 4)

FIRST SNOW
Intense little thriller concerning an average guy (Guy Pearce) who gets his fortune told.  His future is rather dark it seems, but this doesn’t upset our hero until the predictions come to pass.  Terrifically atmospheric.(March 27)

FIVE DAYS IN SEPTEMBER: THE REBIRTH OF AN ORCHESTRA
The orchestra under consideration is the Toronto Symphony, and its rebirth is when new musical director Peter Oundjian arrives.  Documentary enlivened by the charismatic presence of Oundjian and some great music.  (TBA)
 
THE FLOCK
The director of the original Internal Affairs, Wai Keung Lau, which became the Martin Scorsese picture, The Departed, gets to make his own gritty investigative drama involving a missing girl.  Troubled production stars Richard Gere (who also made a film called Internal Affairs!) and Claire Danes.  (TBA)

FOODFIGHT!
Taking the premise of Toy Story one step further, suppose your everyday grocery store came to life, once the customers had gone and the lights were out… The plot revolves around evil Brand X attempting a grocery store coup.  Charlie Sheen, Christopher Lloyd, Hilary Duff and Eva Longoria voice some of the products.  (November 16)

FRACTURE
A battle of wills commences when Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is acquitted of trying to murder his wife, but Assistant DA Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is highly suspicious.  Thriller from the reliable Gregory Hoblit, he of Fallen and Primal Fear, should provoke serious nervousness.  (April 27)
 
FRED CLAUS
Apparently Santa has a less well known brother, Fred, in this comic tale of sibling rivalry as Santa has to rehabilitate his older ne’er do well brother at the North Pole.  Irresistible casting of Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti as the brothers Claus makes this a must see Christmas movie.  (November 11)

FULL OF IT
In an effort to be popular, newbie high schooler, Sam (Ryan Pinkston), has to tell more and more elaborate lies.  Things take a turn for the strange when his lies seem to be becoming true! Winning cast in a fool proof teen comedy.  (March 2)

THE GAME PLAN
The Rock plays an NFL quarterback who suddenly finds he has a 7 year old daughter to look after which seriously puts a crimp in his style in this Disney family comedy.
Is it me, or does an illegitimate child sound very un-Disney like? (October 5)

GEORGIA RULE
Things change when wild child, Rachel (Lindsay Lohan) is unceremoniously dumped into the care of her grandmother, Georgia (Jane Fonda), for the summer.  Expect angst, laughs and family bonding.  (May 11)

GHOST RIDER
Marvel comic’s skeletal vigilante biker rides onto the screen personified by Nicolas Cage.  Comic book fans are drooling, but the trailer is just awful.  Even comic books need one foot in reality.  (February 16)

THE GOLDEN AGE
In this follow up to Elizabeth, Cate Blanchett reprises her role as the British monarch in her later years, dealing with the roguish Sir Walter Raleigh and the machinations of Mary Queen of Scots to usurp the throne.  Geoffrey Rush is back as Walsingham and Samantha Morton plays Mary.  Can’t wait! (October 5)

THE GOLDEN COMPASS
Philip Pullman’s classy fantasy novel reaches the big screen with impeccable credentials.  Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards stars as heroine Lyra Belacqua and she’s ably supported by Nicole Kidman as well as hot Casino Royale alumni, Daniel Craig and Eva Green.  Deserves to be a big hit.  (December 7)

GOLDEN DOOR (NUOVOMONDO)
The story of Sicilian émigrés as they journey to America at the turn of the century.  Lavish exploration of the hopes and dreams of simple folk embarking on the unknown.  Lush photography and a sweeping score add to the ambience.  Charlotte Gainsbourg and Vincenzo Amato star and watch for Vincent Schiavelli in his last role.  (May 11)

GONE, BABY, GONE
Ben Affleck steps back behind the camera to direct this story of two private detectives (Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan) investigating the kidnap of a young girl.  Gritty adaptation of the Dennis Lahane novel, also starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris.  (October 5)

GRACIE
In this pet project for siblings Andrew and Elisabeth Shue (loosely based on the real-life experiences of the latter and directed by her husband, An Inconvenient Truth helmer Davis Guggenheim), a teenage girl (Carly Schroeder) fights the powers that be in order to be allowed to play competitive soccer.  (June)

GRAY MATTERS
In a story that sounds somewhat similar to last year’s Imagine Me and You, Heather Graham plays a woman who finds herself flirting with sexual ambiguity (among other things) when she finds herself crushing on her brother’s fiancee (Bridget Moynahan).  (February 23)

GRBAVICA: THE LAND OF MY DREAMS
In this debut feature from director Jasmila Zbanic, set during the aftermath of the Balkan War, a woman struggles to find the way to come up with the money to pay the full price for her 12-year-old daughter’s school trip.  (February 16)

GRINDHOUSE
In one of the most eagerly anticipated films of the year, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino pay tribute to their gloriously misspent youth with a instant double-feature (including fake trailers from Edgar Wright, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Rodriguez) in which each directs a original example of the trashy films they grew up on.  Rodriguez’s Planet Terror finds Rose McGowan (whose amputated right leg has been replaced with a machine gun) fending of a wave of zombies attacking a small town.  In Tarantino’s slasher homage Death Proof, Kurt Russell plays a psycho who stalks and kills a group of sexy stuntwomen (including Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Zoe Ball and McGowan) with his souped-up car.  (April 6)

HALLOWEEN
The recent trend towards unnecessary remakes of classic horror films now extends to John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece, now in the hands of writer-director Rob Zombie with Malcolm McDowell playing Donald Pleasance, Scout Taylor-Compton as Jamie Lee Curtis and wrestler Tyler Mane as Michael Myers.  However, after the screenplay for Zombie’s radically revised take (with Michael now the victim of an abusive trailer-trash upbringing for starters) was roundly pasted, he has apparently decided to do rewrites so who knows when this will come out.  (August 31)

HAIRSPRAY
The big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters’ 1988 comedy about hair-hoppers and race relations hits the big screen with newcomer Nicole Blonsky (in the role originated by Ricki Lake) surrounded by the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes and John Travolta, the latter stepping into the shoes and dress of the late, great Divine to play Blonsky’s mother.  (July 20)

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
Fresh from blinding horses on stage in Equus, Daniel Radcliffe returns for the fifth installment of the insanely popular fantasy films.  The other regulars are back as well and the newcomers joining them include Helena Bonham Carter (as Bellatrix Lestrange) and David Yates (a British TV director that Warner Brothers has entrusted with one of their most valuable properties as his feature debut).  (July 13)

THE HAWK IS DYING
In an adaptation of the Harry Crewes novel, which premiered at last year’s Sundance festival, Paul Giamatti portrays a ordinary guy who tries to break out of his rut by taming and training a red-tailed hawk.  (TBD)

THE HEARTBREAK KID
Goofball romantic comedy from the Farrelly Brothers starring Ben and Jerry Stiller.  Also stars Rob Corddry and Carlos Mencia.  Story about a man (Stiller) who realizes he’s married the wrong woman…while on his honeymoon.  (October 5)

THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2
In this loose sequel to last year’s ultra-gory and ultra-pointless remake of the Wes Craven cult semi-classic (co-written by Craven and son Jonathan), a gaggle of National Guard trainees on their last day of desert training are besieged by more members of a family of mutant cannibals.  (Please let there be another dog flashback!)  (March 23)

THE HOAX
Originally scheduled for last fall, this Lasse Hallstrom film tells the bizarre story of writer Clifford Irving (Richard Gere) and the furor that erupted after the publication of what would later turn out to be a fake biography of Howard Hughes in the early 1970’s.  (April 6)

THE HOST
When a giant mutant monster arises from the banks of Seoul’s Han River and carries off a young girl, the other members of her slightly dysfunctional extended family band together to rescue her from its clutches in this bizarre mixture of humor and ickiness that actually lives up to the hype it has generated among the fanboy set.  (March 9)

HOSTEL: PART II
This time around, it is a group of American girls—Laura German, Heather Matarazzo, and Bijou Phillips—who pay the price for spending time outside of their home country by getting chopped to pieces by torture freaks in Eli Roth’s sequel to his surprise horror hit.  Although Jay Fernandez, the lone survivor from the original, is said to make a cameo, exploitation fans may be more intrigued by the fact that Roth managed to lure cult film queen Edwige Fenech out of retirement to make an appearance as well.  (June 8)

HOT FUZZ
Having affectionately and hilariously sent up zombie films in the wonderful Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg set their sights on 1980’s action films with a tale of a two-fisted London cop (Pegg) who is reassigned to a crime-free village and partnered with an overeager goof (Nick Frost) only to discover that there may be more to a recent string of “accidents” than meets the eye.  The trailer for this film alone has more solid laughs than most recent comedies.  (April 13)

HOT ROD
As yet another generation of SNL performers tries to make the leap to the silver screen, Andy Samberg stars as a klutzy daredevil who decides to jump the Snake River Canyon (on a moped, no less) in order to impress stepfather Ian McShane.  If this succeeds, maybe the big-screen version of Laser Cats will finally become a reality.  (June 1)

I AM LEGEND
After decades in development hell, this is the third attempt to bring Richard Matheson’s classic novel of the last human being trying to survive while being under constant attack from hordes of mutated zombies (previously filmed as 1964’s The Last Man on Earth and 1973’s The Omega Man).  This time around, Will Smith steps into the survivalist shoes previously worn by Vincent Price and Charlton Heston under the direction of Constantine helmer Francis Lawrence.  (December 14)

I COULD NEVER BE YOUR WOMAN
Originally scheduled for release last summer (and recently postponed from February to June), this romantic comedy from Amy Heckerling features Michelle Pfeiffer as the producer of a Saved By the Bell-type show who finds herself falling for a younger man (Paul Rudd) who is one of the program’s stars.  (June)

I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE
In this latest work from acclaimed Asian filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang, a Malaysian man whose life changes after he is rescued after a mugging and nursed back to health by a group of homeless men.  (TBD)

I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY
Adam Sandler and Kevin James play a pair of straight firemen who decide to pretend to be a couple in order to receive domestic partner benefits.  Wackiness is presumably certain to follow, along with all-but-inevitable cameos from Rob Schneider and Nick Swardson.  Intriguingly, Sideways scribes Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor are among the writers currently credited with the screenplay.  (July 20)

I THINK I LOVE MY WIFE
Good news if you drew “Remake of Eric Rohmer classic” in your office pool regarding Chris Rock’s directorial follow-up to the less-than-immortal Head of State.  This film is indeed a reworking of Rohmer’s Chloe in the Afternoon in which he plays a married man who finds himself tempted to stray by a friend’s former mistress.  (March 16)

ILLEGAL TENDER
Writer-director Franc Reyes returns to the screen for the first time since 2002’s Empire for this story of a young Hispanic man and his mom on the run from the people who killed his father.  (TBD)

IN THE LAND OF WOMEN
After a painful breakup, TV writer Adam Brody returns home to care for his grandmother and becomes involved with the women living in the house across the street—as they include Meg Ryan, Ginnifer Goodwin and Kristen Stewart, I doubt too many people are going to weep for him.  (April 20)

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
On the one hand, this drama about a career military officer searching for his AWOL son has the kind of powerhouse cast—including Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, James Franco and Jason Patric—that would raise the hopes of most sensible moviegoers.  On the other hand, the presence of Paul Crash Haggis as writer and director is enough to dash those hopes in a flash.  (TBD)

INTO GREAT SILENCE
A three-hour long examination of life within the walls of the central monastery of France’s Carthusian Order.  Enjoy.  (February 28)

INTO THE WILD
Returning to the director’s chair for the first time since 2001’s brilliant and overlooked The Pledge, Sean Penn adapts the Jon Krakauer best-seller, the true story of a young man whose decision to shun contemporary life by living in the Alaskan wilderness has tragic consequences, with a cast including Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt.  (September 21)

THE INVASION
This is yet another remake of the warhorse Invasion of the Body Snatchers in which Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig find themselves doing battle against what appears to be an alien invasion.  Originally scheduled to be released last August, the allegedly troubled production is now undergoing reshoots (which became public knowledge after a well-publicized stunt-car crash involving Kidman made the news) and is now supposed to appear this coming August.   (August 17)

THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB
Even those who bristle at the phrase “chick flick” are unlikely to object too strenuously to having it applied to this romantic drama about a group of people who form a book club devoted to the works of Jane Austen and find parallels between the books and their own relationship travails.  Among the members of the group are Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman and Emily Blunt, the hilariously high-strung assistant from The Devil Wears Prada.  (TBD)

JINDABYNE
When a woman (Laura Linney) discovers that her husband (Gabriel Byrne) discovered the body of a murdered woman with some friends while on a fishing trip and didn’t report it until they were done, she becomes consumed with the desire to reach out to the victim’s family in an effort to make things right.  If the plot of Ray Lawrence’s drama sounds a little familiar, it is because it is based on the same Raymond Carver short story that inspired one of the subplots of Robert Altman’s Short Cuts.  (April 27)

KICKIN’ IT OLD SKOOL
Apparently under the impression that Malibu’s Most Wanted did not allow him to fully explore the comedic possibilities of dopey white guys cluelessly appropriating hip-hop culture, Jamie Kennedy stars in a film about a kid who falls into a coma after a break-dancing accident and wakes up 20 years later with the desire to pick up where he left off.  Wackiness no doubt ensues.  (April 20)

KING AND THE CLOWN
In this film, Korea’s official entry for this year’s Best Foreign-Language Film Oscar, a pair of actors arrested for performing a play mocking the king are offered a reprieve from their imminent executions if they can somehow make the monarch laugh.  (TBD)

THE KINGDOM
After an attack on an American military base in the Middle East, a team of FBI experts (including Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) try to overcome suspicious locals and government bureaucracy to identify the bombers before they strike again.  Although Michael Mann co-wrote the story, the directorial chores went to Peter Berg.  (April 20)

KLIMT
Famed filmmaker Raoul Ruiz reteams with John Malkovich for a biopic on the life and work of the controversial Austrian painter Gustav Klimt.  (TBD)

KNOCKED UP
A one-night stand between a would-be porn maven (Seth Rogan) and a driven career woman (Katherine Heigl) has life-changing consequences for both when she discovers that she is pregnant.  Although it may sound like a Lifetime drama, it is actually the eagerly awaited new raunchy comedy from Judd Apatow, his first since the 2005 hit The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  (June 1)

THE LAST MIMZY
In this adaptation of the famous sci-fi short story “Mimsy Were the Borogoves,” a pair of young children play with some mysterious toys that they have found, not realizing that they have been sent from the future as part of a time-travel experiment, and begin to develop strange powers as a result.  Among the grown-ups caught up in the goings-on are Timothy Hutton, Joley Richardson and Rainn Wilson. 

LICENSE TO WED
Mandy Moore and John Krasinski star as a about-to-be-married couple who find themselves put through the wringer when they enter an especially strange marriage preparation course.  The bad news is that the teacher putting them through their paces is none other than Robin Williams in what will presumably be his full-out manic mode.  The good news is that several of Krasinski’s fellow castmates from The Office make appearances as well.  (July 4)

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD
Twelve years after the release of Die Hard With a Vengeance, this long-in-development sequel has Bruce Willis once again saving the world, this time from hi-tech terrorists threatening to destroy America’s entire technological infrastructure.  Of course, since the young hacker he is partnered with is played by Justin Long, star of those unbelievably annoying Mac commercials, some of you may find yourselves rooting for the terrorists.  Action junkies should be satisfied, although the presence of Len Wiseman (the hack behind the Underworld films) as the director isn’t exactly the most encouraging sign.  (July 4)

LOOKING FOR CHEYENNE
No, this is neither a western adventure nor a wacky Wyoming-based road trip comedy.  Instead, it is a French drama about a journalist named Cheyenne who loses her job and decides to abruptly pack up and move to the middle of nowhere—the trouble is that she leaves behind a devoted girlfriend who struggles to go on with life without her beloved.  (May)

THE LOOKOUT
In what appears to be an action-oriented riff on Memento (at least judging from the trailer), a brain-damaged janitor finds himself sucked into a plot to rob the bank where he works.  That said, the cast (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Isla Fisher, Carla Gugino and Jeff Daniels) is strong and it marks the directorial debut of Scott Frank, the screenwriter whose adaptation of Out of Sight makes anything with his name on it worth checking out.  (March 23)

LUCKY YOU
Ordinarily, a drama directed and co-written by Curtis Hanson and starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore and Robert Duvall would probably make it to the top of the “to-see” list of any self-respecting cineaste.  However, the release date for this film, in which Bana plays a top poker player struggling with his personal life during a high-stakes tournament in Vegas, has shifted so many times over the last year or so that it now has all the earmarks of a troubled project.  (May 4)

LUST, CAUTION
In what is sure to be one of the bigger pieces of Oscar bait this fall, this Shanghai-based espionage drama marks Ang Lee’s first film since Brokeback Mountain.  Based on a short story by Eileen Chang, the film stars Tony Leung, Joan Chen and newcomer Tang Wei.  (September 28)